The more rational and elevating the topics are on ^hich
you write, the less will you care for your letters being seen, or
for paragraphs being read out of them, and where there is no
need of any secrecy it is best not to bind your friend by
promises, but to leave it to her discretion.
Do not feel bound to write to every one who begs you to do
so, but choose carefully whom you will have in that relation,
and when you have a few choice correspondents do not neg-
lect them, and begin every letter with an apology, but write in
due season, and waste no paper on commonplace excuses.
Madame de Sevigne praises her daughter for her attention
to dates, which, she says, shows an interest in the correspon-
dence; a dateless letter certainly loses much of its value, and
they are but too common.
Remember the liability of a letter to miscarry, to be opened
by the wrong person, to be seen by other eyes than those for
whom it is meant, and be very careful what you write to the
disadvantage of any one. Praise and admire, but beware of
blame. Your judgment may be wrong, and you know not
when or where it may come up against you and make you
sorry you ever penned it.
As you finish each page of your letter read it over to see
that there are no errors. If you find any, correct them care-
fully. In writing a familiar letter, a very common fault is tauto-
logy, or a too frequent repetition of the same word — for in-
stance, ^'Yesterday I received a letter from my sister Mary,
which was the first letter I have received from my sister since
she left." The sentence should be, "Yesterday I received a
letter from my sister Mary, the first since she left us."
Unless you are writing to one of your own family, put
always the pronoun "my" before the words "sister," "father,"
"mother," and not without it, as if they were also the relatives
of your correspondent.
To end a sentence with the word "left" (for departed) is
awkward and unsatisfactory — for instance, "It is two days since
he left." Left what? It is one of the absurd innovations that
have crept in among us of late years, and are supposed to be
fashionable.
Avoid in writing, as in talking, all words that do not ex-
press the true meaning. Unless you know that your corres-
pondent is well versed in French, refrain from interlarding
your letters with Gallic words or phrases.
Do not introduce long quotations from poetry. Three or
four lines of verse are sufficient; one line or two are better
still. Write them rather smaller than your usual hand, and
leave a space at the beginning and end, marking their com-
mencement and termination with inverted commas, thus " ".
Unless to persons living in the same house, do not enclose
one letter to another. And even then it is not always safe to
do so. Let each letter be transmitted on its own account by
mail, with its own full direction and its own postage stamp.
Confide to no one the delivery of an important letter intended
for another person.
Page 27
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The more rational and elevating the topics are on which you write, the less will you care for your letters being seen, or for paragraphs being read out of them, and where there is no need of any secrecy it is best not to bind your friend by promises, but to leave it to her discretion.
Do not feel bound to write to every one who begs you to do so, but choose carefully whom you will have in that relation, and when you have a few choice correspondents do not neglect them, and begin every letter with an apology, but write in due season, and waste no paper on commonplace excuses.
Madame de Sevigne praises her daughter for her attention to dates, which, she says, shows an interest in the correspondence; a dateless letter certainly loses much of its value, and they are but too common.
Remember the liability of a letter to miscarry, to be opened by the wrong person, to be seen by other eyes than those for whom it is meant, and be very careful what you write to the disadvantage of any one. Praise and admire, but beware of blame. Your judgment may be wrong, and you know not when or where it may come up against you and make you sorry you ever penned it.
As you finish each page of your letter read it over to see that there are no errors. If you find any, correct them care-
fully. In writing a familiar letter, a very common fault is tautology, or a too frequent repetition of the same word — for instance, ^'Yesterday I received a letter from my sister Mary, which was the first letter I have received from my sister since she left." The sentence should be, "Yesterday I receiveda letter from my sister Mary, the first since she left us."
Unless you are writing to one of your own family, put always the pronoun "my" before the words "sister," "father," "mother," and not without it, as if they were also the relatives of your correspondent.
To end a sentence with the word "left" (for departed) is awkward and unsatisfactory — for instance, "It is two days since he left." Left what? It is one of the absurd innovations that have crept in among us of late years, and are supposed to be fashionable.
Avoid in writing, as in talking, all words that do not express the true meaning. Unless you know that your correspondent is well versed in French, refrain from interlarding your letters with Gallic words or phrases.
Do not introduce long quotations from poetry. Three or four lines of verse are sufficient; one line or two are better still. Write them rather smaller than your usual hand, and leave a space at the beginning and end, marking their commencement and termination with inverted commas, thus " ".
Unless to persons living in the same house, do not enclose one letter to another. And even then it is not always safe to do so. Let each letter be transmitted on its own account by mail, with its own full direction and its own postage stamp. Confide to no one the delivery of an important letter intended for another person.